New Zealand’s busiest jail, Mt Eden Prison, has hosted the country's first open day for prison staff families to help them understand better the challenging environment that their family members work in.
Mt Eden set aside February 13 for staff families to tour the facilities and get an understanding of the day-to-day work that their families do.
Acting Mt Eden Prison Manager Ajit Singh says apart from fostering better understanding of how prisons operate it is hoped that the open day will help break down the negative stereotypes often perpetuated by the media.
"Our Corrections Officers do an excellent job working with offenders at Mt Eden so we were keen for their families to see what it is they do," says Ajit.
"A lot of people don't realise that Mt Eden Prison is the busiest prison in the country, servicing more than 54,000 movements to courts, other prisons and escorts of the Auckland-based prisoners, each year.
"The open day was a fantastic event with families really getting a feel for how the work of their loved ones contributes to the running of the prison.
"Everyone from partners to small children came along and got a good feel for the environment."
Ajit says the feedback from family members was so good he hopes to host further open days - especially for those unable to attend the February event.
"We had family members from as far away as Hastings, Tauranga and Whangarei come to the prison. Our youngest guest was a five day-old baby girl whose mother was determined not to miss out. I will be encouraging other prisons to hold similar events."
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ISSN 1178-8453